1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices that are designed for hand-carrying beverages in open containers while avoiding spillage by means of a suspension system.
2. Description of Prior Art
A variety of devices have been designed to minimize spillage while transporting open beverages by suspending an apparatus holding beverage containers from a handle, which is held from above by the carrier. Not only is this an ergonomically natural way to carry an object, but it has been noted that spillage is more easily controlled than a method by which beverages are held in a more rigid fashion as from below. When using the latter method spillage generally occurs due to a lateral (usually unintended) acceleration of the beverage container initiated by the carrier. The liquid inside the container responds to this acceleration by ‘sloshing’ up and sometimes over the wall of the container, causing spillage. Suspension of the container from above by a flexible support reduces the capacity of the carrier to induce a lateral acceleration in the container by a lateral acceleration in the handle of the apparatus. In the suspended arrangement just described, a lateral acceleration of the handle translates to a swinging motion and ultimately an acceleration of the liquid at least partially from below, which does not tend to cause ‘sloshing’. Gravity simultaneously acts on the tray, the container, and the liquid inside the container, to bring the system back to equilibrium, a state where the center of mass is directly below the handle, which translates to an upright orientation of the container.
Some recently designed devices are well suited for carrying multiple hot liquid disposable cups that are produced in standard sizes and shapes as used by coffee venders. For instance, the Cup Carrier designed by Libit et al. (Pub. No. US 2008/0087558) includes a a base with a plurality of openings for receiving beverage cups, where the base is suspended by a handle structure above such that the force of gravity will maintain the cup or cups in an upright position. The cups must be small enough to fit into the openings but not so small that they fall through the openings. This design is well suited for disposable type conical shaped hot cups, but not ceramic coffee or tea mugs that often have attached protruding handles and come in many diverse shapes and sizes.
Another example is the Convertible Cup Holder (Pub. No. US 2009/0126149), which includes an insulating sleeve that slides around a hot beverage cup, where the sleeve includes attached strings that extend above the cup and function has handles for suspending the cup in a hanging modality. As is the case for the Cup Carrier, the Convertible Cup Holder is well suited for disposable type conical shaped hot cups, but not ceramic style coffee or tea mugs. A related design is the Configurable Cup Holder (Pub. No. US 2005/0241964), which employs a carrier blank as a loop with an opening at one side of the loop for a cup to slide into and a handle on the other side from which the cup is suspended.
An example of a more general apparatus is the Pendulous Beverage Server (5,573,136) of Page, which employs a tray with recessed cavities into which open containers of liquids can be placed. The tray is suspended from the center by a retractable chord that is attached to a handle held from above by the server. Like the proposed apparatus, the tray is attached to the handle by a flexible element; however, the Page design is better suited to a plurality of open containers rather than a single container. The Page tray is suspended from the center; therefore a single open container resting to the side of the central tower will cause a listing of the tray and may result in some spillage. The retracting handle of the Page tray addresses a potentially problematic issue that could occur with a previous related invention, Rienzo's (4,117,965) Self-Balancing Tray. The Self-Balancing Tray also includes a flexible element attached to a handle, which is used to suspend the tray from above, however, the handle is not retracting so may hang down below and interfere with the containers placed on the tray when the tray is at rest on a surface and the handle is not in use. The Self-Balancing Tray is suspended by an arched support structure that is attached to the tray in two places, which are opposing sides of the tray.